A gaming apparatus is disclosed having a display unit capable of generating video images; a value input device; a player tracking card reader; and a controller. The controller being programmed to read a player tracking card, to acquire player tracking data from a database, and determine if a player is a personal progressive member. The controller also being programmed to evaluate an outcome of a game to determine if the outcome was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; to increment a credit account for the player by a personal progressive jackpot total if the outcome was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; to reset the personal progressive jackpot total if the outcome was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; and to increment the credit account by a contribution amount if the outcome was not a qualified personal progressive win.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A gaming apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable of generating video images; a value input device; a player tracking card reader; a controller operatively coupled to said display unit, said value input device, and said player tracking card reader, said controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, said controller being programmed to allow a player to make a wager, said controller being programmed to cause a video image to be generated on said display unit, said video image representing a game selected from said group of games consisting of video poker, video blackjack, video slots, video keno and video bingo, said video image comprising an image of at least five playing cards if said game comprises video poker, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of simulated slot machine reels if said game comprises video slots, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of playing cards if said game comprises video blackjack, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of keno numbers if said game comprises video keno, said video image comprising an image of a bingo grid if said game comprises video bingo, said controller being programmed to read a player tracking card, acquire player tracking data from a player tracking database, and determine if said player is a personal wide area progressive member; said controller being programmed to evaluate an outcome of said game represented by said video image; said controller being programmed to determine if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; said controller being programmed to increment a credit account for said player by a personal wide area progressive jackpot total if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win, wherein said personal wide area progressive jackpot total represents a cash value; said controller being programmed to reset said personal wide area progressive jackpot total to a cash amount correlating to said player's gaming history if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; said controller being programmed to increment said personal wide area progressive jackpot total for said player by a cash contribution amount if said outcome of said game was not a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; and said controller being programmed to lock said gaming apparatus and perform a jackpot verification if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win.
2. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein said controller is programmed to prompt said user to become a personal wide area progressive member if it is determined that said player was not currently a personal wide area progressive member.
3. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein said player tracking database comprises a remote, central database.
4. A gaming system comprising a plurality of gaming apparatuses as defined in claim 3 , said gaming apparatuses being interconnected to form a network of gaming apparatuses and wherein said gaming apparatuses are located in a plurality of facilities with each of said gaming apparatuses having access to said player tracking database.
5. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein said player tracking database comprises a local, satellite database that is periodically updated by a remote, central database.
6. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein said cash contribution amount comprises a percentage of said player's wager.
7. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein said cash contribution amount comprises a predetermined cash amount less than one dollar.
8. A gaming system comprising a plurality of gaming apparatuses as defined in claim 1 , said gaming apparatuses being interconnected to form a network of gaming apparatuses.
9. A gaming system as defined in claim 1 , wherein said gaming apparatuses are interconnected via an Internet.
10. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein said controller is further programmed to generate a player status video image representing current player tracking data.
11. A gaming apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable of generating video images; a value input device; a player tracking card reader; a controller operatively coupled to said display unit, said value input device, and said player tracking card reader, said controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, said controller being programmed to allow a person to make a wager, said controller being programmed to allow a person to make a payline selection, said controller being programmed to cause a video image to be generated on said display unit, said video image comprising a plurality of simulated slot machine reels of a slots game, each of said slot machine reels having a plurality of slot machine symbols, said controller being programmed to read a player tracking card, acquire player tracking data from a player tracking database, and determine if a player is a personal progressive member; said controller being programmed to determine a value payout associated with an outcome of said slots game, said controller being programmed to determine said outcome of said slots game based on a configuration of said slot machine symbols; said controller being programmed to determine if said outcome of said slots game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; said controller being programmed to increment a credit account for said player by a personal progressive jackpot total if said outcome of said slots game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win, wherein said personal progressive jackpot total represents a cash value; said controller being programmed to reset said personal progressive jackpot total to a cash amount correlating to said player's gaming history if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; and said controller being programmed to add a percentage of a cash amount of said wager to a current cash value of said personal progressive jackpot if said outcome of said game was not a qualified personal progressive jackpot win.
12. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 11 , wherein said controller is programmed to prompt said user to become a personal progressive member if it is determined that said player was not currently a personal progressive member.
13. A gaming system comprising a plurality of gaming apparatuses as defined in claim 11 , said gaming apparatuses being interconnected to form a network of gaming apparatuses.
14. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 11 , wherein said player tracking database comprises a remote, central database.
15. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 11 , wherein said personal progressive jackpot is a personal wide area progressive jackpot.
16. A gaming method comprising: causing a video image to be generated, said video image representing a game selected from the group of games consisting of video poker, video blackjack, video slots, video keno and video bingo, said video image comprising an image of at least five playing cards if said game comprises video poker, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of simulated slot machine reels if said game comprises video slots, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of playing cards if said game comprises video blackjack, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of keno numbers if said game comprises video keno, and said video image comprising an image of a bingo grid if said game comprises video bingo; reading a player tracking card; acquiring player tracking data from a player tracking database; determining if a player is a personal progressive member that is eligible to win a personal progressive jackpot; evaluating an outcome of said game represented by said video image; determining if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; incrementing a credit account for said player by a personal progressive jackpot total if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win, wherein said personal progressive jackpot total represents a cash value; resetting said personal progressive jackpot total to cash amount correlating to said player's gaming history if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win; and incrementing said personal progressive jackpot total by a cash contribution amount if said outcome of said game was not a qualified personal progressive jackpot win.
17. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , additionally comprising prompting said user to become a personal progressive member if it is determined that said player was not currently a personal progressive member.
18. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , additionally comprising storing said player tracking data at a remote, central database.
19. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , wherein said player tracking database comprises a local, satellite database that is periodically updated by a remote, central database.
20. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , wherein said cash contribution amount comprises a percentage of a player's wager.
21. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , wherein said cash contribution amount comprises a predetermined amount less than one dollar.
22. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , additionally comprising providing access to said player tracking database from a plurality of gaming facilities.
23. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , additionally comprising locking said gaming apparatus and performing a jackpot verification if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal progressive jackpot win.
24. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , additionally comprising causing a player status video image to be generated, said player status video image representing current player tracking data.
25. A gaming method as defined in claim 16 , additionally comprising: determining if a player is a personal wide area progressive member that is eligible to win a personal wide area progressive jackpot; determining if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; incrementing a credit account for said player by a personal wide area progressive jackpot total if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win, wherein said personal wide area progressive jackpot total represents a cash value; resetting said personal wide area progressive jackpot total if said outcome of said game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; and incrementing said personal wide area progressive jackpot total by a cash contribution amount if said outcome of said game was not a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win.
26. A slot machine, comprising: a housing; a transparent display portion associated with said housing; a value input device; a player tracking card reader; a plurality of mechanically rotatable reels, said mechanically rotatable reels having a plurality of slot machine symbols formed thereon; said mechanically rotatable reels being disposed in said housing so that said slot machine symbols are visible to a player through said transparent display portion; a controller operatively coupled to said mechanically rotatable reels, said value input device, and said player tracking card reader, said controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor; said controller being programmed to read a player tracking card, acquire player tracking data from a player tracking database, and determine if a player is a personal wide area progressive member; said controller being programmed to determine a value payout associated with an outcome of a slots game, said controller being programmed to determine said outcome of said slots game based on a configuration of said slot machine symbols; said controller being programmed to determine if said outcome of said slots game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; said controller being programmed to increment a credit account for said player by a personal wide area progressive jackpot total if said outcome of said slots game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win, wherein said personal wide area progressive jackpot total represents a first cash amount; said controller being programmed to reset said personal wide area progressive jackpot total to a second cash amount correlating to said player's gaming history if said outcome of said slots game was a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot win; and said controller being programmed to determine increment said personal wide area progressive jackpot total for said player by a cash contribution amount if said outcome of said slots game was not a qualified personal wide area progressive jackpot.
27. A slot machine as defined in claim 26 , wherein said controller is programmed to prompt said user to become a personal wide area progressive member if it is determined that said player was not currently a personal wide area progressive member.
28. A slot machine as defined in claim 26 , wherein said cash contribution amount comprises a percentage of said player's wager.
29. A slot machine as defined in claim 27 , wherein said cash contribution amount comprises a predetermined cash amount less than one dollar.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
February 1, 2002
August 17, 2004
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